Stone Brewing Co. was founded in 1996 in San Marcos, CA by Greg Koch and Steve Wagner. In 2005, the brewery relocated to their current location in Escondido, CA (North County, San Diego). Since its founding, Stone has built a massive and intensely loyal following by crafting high octane, over the top beers and branding them with an arrogant love it or leave it attitude that has endeared them to the beer geek masses. Twice named the best brewery on Earth by Beeradvocate Magazine, Stone has grown into a juggernaut of the industry on the backs of its hop forward beers. Greg Koch has defined himself as the face of the brewery, dubbing himself "the" arrogant bastard. This is in reference to Stone's Arrogant Bastard Ale that essentially created the American Strong Ale style in 1997. In 2011, I was lucky enough to attend a tasting hosted by Greg Koch and had the opportunity to meet the man and the legend. Below is a picture of us.
Sorry if the image is a bit blurry, the lighting was weird. Greg is on the left, I'm on the right. I know it's an awful picture of me, please don't judge.
Anyway, among Stone's many signature beers is their double IPA known as Ruination, so named for the ruinous effect on one's palate from the extreme hoppiness. To read more about the double IPA style, please see my review of Three Floyd's Dreadnaught here. Stone first starting brewing Ruination way back in 2002. At that time, Ruination was the only regular production, year round double IPA in the entire country. As a testament to how far the industry has come in the past ten years and to commemorate a decade of making one of the most highly regarded and best selling double IPAs on Earth, Stone decided to make a special version of Ruination for the tenth anniversary. Whereas standard Ruination is 7.7% abv and uses 2.5 lbs. of hops per barrel (that's a lot), Ruination Tenth Anniversary weighs in at 10.8% abv and uses an almost scary 5 lbs. of hops per barrel. As if this insane hop regimen weren't enough, the anniversary edition also undergoes additional dry hopping, a technique in which hops are dumped in the finished beer after fermentation to provide an additional blast of hoppy goodness. Apparently, Greg and his brewmaster Mitch Steele were trying to scare me with this beer. They figured no one could love Ruination as much as I do. Little do they know how hard I am to scare. I am unnecessarily stoked. Let's dive in!
I am greeted by a beautiful 22oz bottle (called a bomber) that sports some of the best label art I've seen in a while. The trademark Stone gargoyle (that wards off the evils of cheap ingredients and preservatives) is stationed front and center, flanked on all sides by meandering hop vines that terminate in beautiful little hop cones. Bright green lettering that really stands out against otherwise gold detailing identifies the beer and the usual Stone paragraph or two on back rants and raves about how awesome their beer is and how we're probably too weak to enjoy it anyway. A big pour into my Libbey Poco Grande glass reveals a very clear dark gold to light amber beer that serves as the foundation for a scrumptious looking light beige head about an inch or so thick. The head recedes after a few minutes and settles into a solid half inch that appears to be here for the long haul. For the record, this amped up version does remarkably resemble standard Ruination. Appearance: 14/15
The nose on this beer is outrageous. Huge, nay, leviathan notes of grapefruit and extraordinarily ripe pineapple are leaping out of the glass. I barely even need my nose in it, I can smell it from three feet away. A little bit of piney hops are in there too but I mostly smell big time notes of Simcoe, Citra, and Centennial hops. This is great news for me, as I love all three. Also slinking around in the background are some caramel-like sweet aromas, my first clue that I'm not dealing with your average Ruination, a beer revered and feared for its bone-dry body. Nose: 24/25
Wow! After my first taste, this is among the more impressive beers I've ever tasted. I understand the difficulty in crafting a beer like this. To elevate the alcohol into double digits while retaining the essence of the original; that is, a dry and clean showcase for sheer hop power, is not easy in the slightest. Achieving a beer that has these seemingly paradoxical qualities requires striking the right balance between hops and malt, then selecting the right yeast to carry this beer to fruition, then carefully monitoring the fermentation to assure everything attenuates as fully as possible. Truly, bravo to Mitch Steele. All those great hop aromas in the nose translate beautifully here, with hints of orange and lemon getting out of their seats and on the dance floor. Those notes of caramel sweet crystal malt that I detected in the nose are still only dancing around the perimeter. They never make a play to overtake or even match the hops. There is a slight smack of booziness and a touch of resinous hops to remind me that this is in fact a bigger Ruination. I rather like that in this beer, almost as though it were humbling me the moment I thought I could conquer this liquid poem to the glory of the hop (can't take credit for that phrase, it's all Stone there). Palate: 50/50
The mouthfeel is very good. A thick, viscous IPA that leaves the tongue with subtle but distinct reminders of its power. They have achieved their desired affect: my palate is ruined. I won't be enjoying any more beers tonight. Mouthfeel: 9/10
OVERALL: 97/100
Man, I picked a great time to start a beer blog. I've been lucky to have so much great beer as of late. This beer is no exception. I love original Ruination but this beer tops it in every way. I love craft beer because the truly great ones allow me to taste the dedication and care that went into making them. This is one of those beers. While I admit to being a long time Stone fan and a budding Stone fanboy, I truly believe that this beer can stand on its own merit and go toe to toe with the best beers out there. I will definitely be buying more of this before it's gone forever and you should too. Cheers!
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